Infinite Professions from a Pearl Collector

However, to Chen Ye’s dismay, everything in his field of vision was normal.

His inn room was empty, and there was no movement in the hallway.

In the adjacent room, Su Yuan’s breathing was steady; she seemed to be sound asleep.

Downstairs, the Fat Shopkeeper and the waiter had long since put out their lights and gone to rest.

The entire inn was shrouded in a deathly silence.

There were no enemies, no killing intent, and not even the slightest ripple of abnormal Energy.

Yet the lethal sense of crisis in his heart hadn’t faded. In fact, it was growing stronger.

’What’s happening?’

Chen Ye’s brow furrowed tightly.

He trusted his intuition. Especially after becoming a Slaying Blade Asura, this premonition of danger had practically become instinct.

If he sensed danger, it meant danger was definitely present.

The only explanation was that his enemy was using a method he couldn’t comprehend to approach him, one that not even his Asura’s Eye could detect.

Just as he was concentrating fully, on guard against the slightest disturbance, an ethereal voice rang out in his ear without warning.

"Chen... Ye..."

The voice wasn’t loud, yet it possessed a soul-piercing Magic Power that resounded clearly in his ears.

Chen Ye’s pupils contracted violently. At that same moment, the voice in his ear grew louder.

"Chen... Ye... Chen... Ye..."

Each call was like an invisible sledgehammer striking his Divine Spirit, making his head spin.

What was more terrifying was that as the voice continued to call out, Chen Ye was overcome by an incredibly powerful urge to answer!

It was as if answering it was all he had to do to make the annoying voice stop.

As if a single reply would allow him to find out who the other party was and what they really wanted.

The moment the thought appeared, it grew like a patch of wild weeds, instantly overrunning his mind.

’Answer it!’

’Answer it now!’

Chen Ye’s jaw was clenched so tight his teeth were grinding. Veins bulged on his forehead as large beads of sweat rolled down his cheeks. He desperately suppressed the impulse that stemmed from the depths of his soul.

Chen Ye knew very well that if he spoke a reply, he would be forging an unbreakable link between himself and the unknown caster.

From that moment on, his life and death would truly be at the other’s mercy.

Chen Ye’s Power of the Divine Soul flared, attempting to dispel the Demon Sound that had invaded his mind.

But it was no use.

The voice seemed to be formless and without substance. Although his Power of the Divine Soul could temporarily resist it, it couldn’t be eradicated completely.

It was like ripples in water that, after being scattered, would quickly converge again.

"Chen Ye... Chen Ye... Chen Ye..."

The calls grew more and more rapid, louder and louder.

It began as one voice, then gradually became two, then three... until finally, it was as if hundreds or thousands of voices—men and women, old and young—were roaring in his mind like a tsunami.

The urge to answer grew to an extreme intensity.

Just then, Chen Ye snapped his eyes shut, allowing the cacophony of life-stealing voices to echo in his mind as his Heart Spirit sank into an endless darkness.

The hundreds and thousands of voices calling his name transformed into twisted, demonic faces, pressing in on him from all directions, trying to devour and assimilate him completely.

"Chen Ye... answer us..."

"Chen Ye... become one of us..."

"Chen Ye... stop resisting..."

The Demon Sound filled his ears, tempting him, pulling at him, trying to drag him into the endless Abyss.

Chen Ye’s consciousness trembled violently, like a flickering candle in the wind that could be extinguished at any moment.

Just then, Chen Ye began to visualize something.

The sun!

That’s right—the very same brilliant, blazing sun he faced every morning to devour its first wisp of purple qi!

As he visualized it, a faint point of light suddenly materialized within the dark space of his consciousness.

At first, the point of light was only the size of a pinprick, its glow so faint it looked as if it could be swallowed by the surrounding darkness at any moment.

But Chen Ye poured all of his Heart Spirit, his entire will, into that point of light.

He recalled the scorching heat of the sun, the brightness of the sun, the supreme majesty of the sun that illuminates all things and dispels all evil!

Gradually, the point of light began to grow.

From a pinprick, to a grain of rice, to the size of a fist...

The light it emitted grew brighter and hotter!

The moment the demonic faces that had been madly pressing in on him touched this light, they reacted as if they had met their nemesis. They let out piercing screams and retreated, their faces filled with terror.

’It’s working!’

Chen Ye’s heart leaped, his spirits greatly buoyed.

He focused on visualizing the sun with even greater effort.

He felt as if he had become that sun, hanging high above the nine heavens, searing the churning darkness below with his endless light and heat.

BOOM!

Finally, when the visualized sun had expanded to its absolute limit, it exploded violently, transforming into a billion golden rays of light that swept across the entire space of his consciousness!

"AHHH—!"

Under the divine, golden light, the demonic faces formed from the voices melted away like snow in a blazing fire, screaming as they turned to ash.

The entire space of his consciousness was dyed a brilliant gold.

The sound of the voices calling his name instantly weakened by more than ninety percent.

However, the banished darkness had not disappeared completely.

It retreated to the corners of his conscious space and re-coalesced, forming a patch of even deeper, more viscous darkness.